In the program, individuals are not immediately incarcerated but are subject to potentially lengthy prison sentences if they continue to violate the strict provisions of the program. While the charge to which Owens pleaded carries a 10-year maximum penalty, Owens' fourth-or-subsequent-time habitual offender status increases the maximum to life.

Leonarr T. Moore

Owens, who was released from prison on April 10, is accused of walking through the hallway on the fourth floor of the Saginaw County Governmental Center on May 23 and making threats to the witnesses as they were sitting on a bench in the hallway waiting to testify in Leonarr T. Moore's trial.

Owens was released from prison after spending two years behind bars for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony from a 2011 incident. Owens also pleaded to possessing a firearm as a felon and carrying a concealed weapon and received five years probation for those charges.

Saginaw County sheriff's deputies arrested Owens at the courthouse after the male witness reported the threat.

Borchard is scheduled to sentence Owens, who remains jailed on a $100,000 bond, on Sept. 18.

— Andy Hoag covers courts for MLive/The Saginaw News. Email him at ahoag@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter @awhoag